A Pasta Fiend Goes Paleo

So I've been conducting a little experiment. A little food experiment - a Palaeolithic experiment to be exact.

I'd read a bit about eating "Paleo" - but I think it was this post on Sarah Wilson's blog that kicked me into gear and inspired me to give it a try. I've been having a few issues with my skin and thought I'd see if it made any difference, as most anti-inflammatory diets are no dairy and no wheat.

"Paleo" eating takes things a little further - with strict followers consuming no dairy, no grains and no legumes (so no corn, no beans, no peanuts - the list goes on). So basically you just eat lots of meat, fish, fruit and veggies. The rationale is that our bodies aren't designer to easily digest dairy, grains and legumes, and we should eat like paleolithic people did.

I bought the above book "Make it Paleo" and set out to give Paleo eating a try for a month.

As an avid pasta lover I predicted I wouldn't last a week - but actually surprised myself by how relatively easy it was. I've just finished four weeks - and although I allowed myself a few little cheats on the weekend (rice at asian restaurants, doughnuts at the markets..) to keep myself sane - I reckon I've been at least 90% paleo.

And what's the result? Well, I feel more energetic, less hungry all the time, and I think its improved my skin. I think planning ahead was a big part of getting me through four weeks - and "Make It Paleo" was really great for simple mid week lunch and dinner ideas.

Am I going to stick with it? Kind of. I'm going to try and keep it up on weekdays and continue to allow myself a little more freedom on the weekends. Because god I miss pasta. And cheese. And I'm sure even Paleolithic cavewomen treated themselves once in a while.

Surprise Harvest

I've gotten a bit disheartened with our veggie patch of late. My cucumber seedlings got scratched out by naughty chicken feet. My zucchini seedlings got eaten by rogue possums. My pumpkin vine shrivelled up and died. Ditto the choke vine. Ditto the corn. My chia plant still fails to produce any seeds. My two lone passionfruit are MIA.  My chillies are on strike. Sigh.

Sometimes its easy to get discouraged, when all the hard work fails to pay off. Sometimes you're too tired, too hot, too hungover - there are too many weeds to pull, too many grasshoppers to battle.

But sometimes a veggie patch is still generous enough to offer up some treats, despite the fact you've wilfully neglected it for weeks on end.

The sweet potatoes were a welcome surprise in a corner that I thought I'd harvested months ago. And the lemongrass might be a bitch to pull out but it's so low maintenance it can be forgiven. And the wee butternut pumpkin was the lone survivor of a vine that could't handle the summer heat. But it was so cute it finally motivated me to get back into the patch and sow some more seeds.

Taschen's The Vegetable Garden

Mr T hit it out of the ball park this Christmas.

Oh yeeeah! As soon as I ripped open the wrapping and saw the Tashsen logo I squealed a little.

There's a lovely flip through pamphlet with a blurb on gardening and the key for each image..

...and then 46 divine fine art prints of veggies!

They're pretty huge and did I mention there were 46 of them! I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them yet - there's a wall in the kitchen that I could potentially frame 6 or 8 of them, otherwise I was thinking of maybe dotting them around our spare room so that future poppets would grow up with a love for illustrated veggies. Our veggie patch is very dry and unproductive at the moment so I think I'll just be admiring these veggies for a little while instead.

Pineapple Protection

I spotted this sign at the community garden at Davies Park whilst at the West End markets a fortnight ago.

I do my fair share of complaining about losing produce to possums and chickens - so I can certainly empathise with them. I missed the markets this weekend so I'm eagerly awaiting next Saturday to see if the little piney is still holding on.

I especially love the post script - if you can't make it out, it reads "ps - please, stop stealing this sign."

Christmas Tchotchkes

I love Christmas. 

I love the food, I love wrapping gifts, I love silly carols, I love ultra tacky house lights, I love putting up the Christmas tree and I especially love the ornaments.

These two vintage Christmas ornaments were from a small collection passed down to me from my grandmother. I still remember hanging them on her small tree as a kid.

I love buying ornaments on overseas travels (they're small souvenirs that get used at least once a year). This  Mexican mama is from our Playa Del Carmen.

And a pinocchio from Venice!

And a fluffy owl from Richmond in Tasmania.

This one is a lovely new addition - a gift from Germany from a very thoughtful friend.

And a gift from last year with a favourite line.

Let your heart be light -- Merry Christmas everyone!!

Impatience and Hydrangeas

I cheated. I bought the worlds biggest hydrangea bush on the weekend. 

I've been watering and caring for my little mail order seedlings all autumn and they've barely grown. And my two transplants from last year are not doing so great either. So when I spotted this gigantic beauty in the nursery at Capalaba Produce where I was meant to be fetching chicken feed - I gave in to all notions of being patient and just bit the bullet and bought it.

And I knew exactly where to put it - this ratty looking garden bed gets morning sun and afternoon shade which suits hydrangeas perfectly.

Mr Tchotchke loves lending a hand in the garden

Wa - lah! Who doesn't love a before and after shot? I topped up the bed with lots of organic sugarcane mulch to help it retain moisture.

It's so fluffy! I'm sorely tempted to lop off a few blooms to bring inside. I think I'll give it a few days to settle in.

At first I felt a bit guilty for giving in to temptation and not sticking it out with my seedlings - plus it was the single most expensive plant I've ever purchased. But I figured it could be an early Christmas pressie to myself - and it was just as much as a few bunches of flowers and would provide me with far more enjoyment. Let's hope I can keep it alive until next year!

Ch-ch-ch-chia!

Everytime I use chia seeds I think of the chia pet ad at the beginning of Wayne's World. Ch-ch-ch-chia! Just me?

I made these yummy pink grapefruit and organic yoghurt cups for dessert last night.

And I sprinkled crunchola and chia seeds over the top for extra texture.

Since I've been sprinkling chia seeds on everything recently - this caught my eye in Bunnings a few weeks ago.

Don't you love the tagline - Kids love them!

It's done pretty well in the veggie patch so far - it's popped out these blue flower heads which google tells me will then form into seed heads - for my first chia seed harvest!

Ch-ch-ch-chia!